H2O: No Ordinary Girls
by RosemaryAlysse
Summary: Four girls are brought together by a twist of fate that leaves them stranded on a mysterious island. They are forced to become friends after they leave because they soon learn they all share the same secret: They're mermaids.
1. Chapter 1

_20 August 2019 6:59 PM AEST_

Audrey Nicholls stood in the doorway of her new bedroom, with her hands planted firmly on her hips. She studied it very intently, as if something was wrong about it but she didn't quite know what it was. Of course, nothing was wrong with it, because everything had been organized neatly. Several days of planning had went into to styling of her new bedroom, so of course nothing could be wrong with it.

A figure appeared next to Audrey. Her little brother, Aaron, had come out of nowhere, as usual.

"What are you staring at?" asked Aaron, trying to see exactly what Audrey was looking at so intensely.

After about five seconds, Audrey finally broke her gaze from her room.

"Nothing. I thought maybe I had placed my dresser too close to my bed, which would cause a bit of a clutter between the bed, the desk, and the dresser, but it should be fine."

Aaron rolled his eyes and started to walk away.

"You're so _weird._" he called out behind him.

Audrey ignored him and plopped down face first onto her bed. The entire week had been exhausting for the Nicholls family. They had arrived in Australia on Monday and had spent the rest of the week unpacking and redecorating the entire house. Thankfully, they had finished today, which left Audrey with one week of relaxation before school started.

Audrey had even planned her daily activities for her last week. She has going to spend one day relaxing at the beach, one day exploring the town, getting to know the place a bit more, one day searching for a ballet studio, which she desperately needed to find. For her final day, she was going to go sailing.

Sailing was one of Audrey's favorite activities. She loved the peaceful tranquility of being alone, the calming sound of the sea. To her, it was one of the most relaxing activities, which is why she decided to save it for the last day before school.

Audrey smiled thinking of all the activities she had planned for the week.

_Somehow, I just know this week is going to be_ _great._

* * *

Hi! Sorry for the short chapter, usually I want each chapter to be about a thousand words. All information pertaining to submitting a character is on my profile. Please leave review and let me know what you think. Also, any advice is greatly appreciated, because as you could probably tell, my writing isn't the best.


	2. chapter 2

_21 August 2019 8:43 AM AEST_

Audrey went through her normal morning routine and went downstairs to eat breakfast in their newly furnished kitchen. Her father was already up and was drinking a cup of orange juice while reading a book.

"Morning Dad," said Audrey, as she opened the refrigerator to grab the orange juice.

"Morning love," he replied, not looking up from his book, "where're you headed?"

Audrey poured herself a glass and sat down at the table across from her father.

"Just to the beach. I figured a day to just unwind and chill would be nice."

"That sounds lovely. Wish I could afford a day at the beach, but your mom and I have to start work today. Speaking of, I should probably go make sure your mother is awake. Wouldn't want to be late on the first day, right?"

Audrey's parents were marine biologists and had recently gotten a new job, which had required them to move to Australia. Her siblings, Aaron and Aimee, had been devastated to leave their family home in Florida. Aimee, in true eight year old fashion, had thrown many tantrums and shed many tears. Aaron, the fourteen year old, had gone at least two weeks before saying a word to their parents.

Audrey, however, had secretly been thrilled to leave Florida. She had been eager for a change in scenery, and it wasn't like she had many friends back home. Audrey had always been more of an introvert and had had a hard time making any friends. Leaving America, she was excited for a chance to start over and actually make friends rather than just be alone for the rest of her life.

Still, Audrey was worried about her siblings. Though the tantrums and silence had stopped, both were still pretty upset. Both of them had left behind many of their beloved friends, especially Aaron, who had left behind his best friend of nine years.

_I think I'll invite Aaron and Aimee to come with me to the beach. Hopefully that'll cheer them up._

Audrey ran upstairs, hoping that a trip to the beach would hopefully pull them from their sour moods.

* * *

Hey guys, it's me again! Here's just a little snippet of my writing. I was hoping you guys could get a little bit more insight to Audrey's family, their dynamic, and a little bit more background to who Audrey is and where she came from.

On another note, I haven't really been getting in any characters. So far, I've only received one submission. I don't know if maybe people are busy or if it's just not generating enough interest. If you are interested in submitting a character but you haven't yet, I would really appreciate it if you would let me know, either through in a review or through a message. You don't have to, it's just so I can see how many are interested in submitting a character. Also, please go check out my friend bumblebea30's SYOC!


	3. chapter 3

_Friday, 25 August 2019, 12:13 PM AEST_

It was three days before school started up again and Shelby Jones was getting a little restless. Shelby had never particularly cared for school, considering she was barely passing. Summer break had been a blur, with her getting up at the crack of dawn to swim all day, training, and then coming back home to sit and watch TV.

It was then Shelby realized that she had done nothing fun or eventful the entire break. No parties, no drinking. She had hung out with her friends maybe three times, but not enough for it to be considered an event. And though swimming was fun, it wasn't the same kind of fun as party-fun.

It was also then that Shelby decided she was going to make the most of her last three days of summer break. Naturally, the only way to do that was to go out a find a party.

* * *

About halfway through, Shelby realized that looking for a party was way easier said than done. Not a lot of people advertise their parties nowadays, especially high school students who mostly tried to keep their parties a secret from any adults.

Shelby knew what she had to do, and she didn't like it. She had to talk to Carter Crane.

Carter Crane, one of the most popular kids in school, and one of the most obnoxious, in Shelby's opinion. But, he was the person who knew everything about everyone. Which meant that he knew about any possible parties going on within the next few days. If she wanted an invite to possibly one of the hottest parties in town, he was her only shot.

Looking for him was the easy part. She found him at The Juice Bar, hanging out with the usual crowd of spoiled rich kids.

"Hey, Crane!" Shelby shouted to get his attention.

"Well, well, look who it is," Carter called from his spot in a booth. He got up from his table and joined her at the front of the cafe. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Jones?"

"I have a question for you." Shelby was already starting to regret asking Carter for help.

"Interesting. I may have an answer for you."

"I was just wondering, well, maybe have you heard of any parties happening recently?"

Carter started to smirk his trademark, trouble-maker smirk. She was really starting to regret this a lot.

"Sure, I'll tell you," he said, still grinning. "For a price."

Shelby rolled her eyes. Of course there would be a catch.

"Are you joking? This isn't even that big of a deal, I just wanted to know if there were any parties going on."

"Oh, but it is crucial information," he said a mock serious voice, "I was sworn to secrecy not to tell anyone who wasn't invited."

Shelby, for what seemed like the thousandth time, rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"You know what? I don't have to deal with this." Shelby turned around and started to leave when Carter called for her.

"Listen, I'll tell you where there's a party. But, you can't tell anyone else, okay?"

Shelby stopped, and slowly turned back around.

"I'm listening."

"There's a party tonight at 8. On Mako Island."

* * *

Hey guys, thought that I'd update with a chapter of Shelby, created by Elle S Goudie. I really hope I did her justice! Leave a review and remember, my SYOC is _**STILL OPEN!**_ So please keep sending in characters. All information is on my profile.


	4. Chapter 4

_Friday, 25 August 2019, 5:32 PM AEST_

The last thing that Lorelei expected to be doing on a Friday evening was sneaking out with her best friend to go to Mako Island. Not that she was complaining; she'd heard about Mako Island thousands of times yet she'd never been. Secretly going out to go bring science-obsessed Harper to a mysterious island had not been on her agenda for today.

But she had been dying to go since she'd heard about how magical and beautiful it was. She could just imagine all the pictures she could take. It was a photographer's dream.

"Listen, Lore, it'll all be fine. We'll be back before anyone notices we've gone. All I need to do is get some samples of the rock at Mako Island for my experiment and then we're gone! And you could bring your camera," teased Harper. She really knew how to win over Lorelei.

Lorelei hesitated for a second. If they got caught, she would be in big trouble. But the photos...

"Okay, fine, we'll go. You had me at camera. But how are we even going to get there?"

"Well... you're parents have that jet ski that they never use..."

"What! No way, that thing is so old, I don't even know if we'll be able to make it all the way there!"

Harper scoffed. "It is not that old, your parents bought it only last year. We'll be fine."

Lorelei sighed. Harper had this thing where whenever she set her mind to something, she wouldn't be stopped.

_Might as well go, at least to make sure she's safe._

"Alright, let's go"

* * *

_6:18 PM AEST_

Shelby was almost to the boat dock when she remembered she had a major problem. She had no way of getting to the party.

_Maybe I can catch someone else whose going to the party at the dock and beg for a ride there._

But when Shelby made it there, it was deserted. Well, almost.

At the end, there was a small yellow sailboat with a petite redhead perched inside. She looked trustworthy enough, though Shelby couldn't recall if she had ever seen this girl before. Then again, Shelby was a little bit tipsy.

"Hello? Small, ginger girl? Are you going somewhere?"

The girl looked up from where she was currently tightening some rope-looking thing.

"Excuse me?"

"I need a ride somewhere. Are you going out on sea?"

The girl's brow furrowed, looking very confused.

"I mean, I am, yes."

Shelby smiled. "Great. Then you can give me a ride to Mako Island."

Shelby started to get into the boat.

"Hold on a second. First of all, I don't even know who you are and second of all, I never said I'd give you a ride."

"Well, my name is Shelby, I'm seventeen and I'm in high school. There, now you know me, so can I please have a ride?"

Shelby swayed just a little bit, but it was enough to raise the girl's suspicion.

"Are you drunk?"

Shelby gave a mock serious gasp. "Absolutely not!"

The girl raised one eyebrow.

"Well," Shelby put her fingers almost together with a small gap between them, "Maybe just a tiny bit"

The girl sighed.

"I'll bring you to Mako Island on one condition. You have to wear this."

She held up a bright, ugly orange life jacket. Shelby wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Ugh, as if."

"No life jacket, no Mako Island."

Shelby rolled her eyes. She had done that a lot in the last twenty four hours.

"Fine. Give me the stupid jacket."

The girl smiled.

"Great. My name's Audrey, by the way."

* * *

_6:58 PM AEST_

By the time Harper and Lorelei reached Mako Island, the sun was just beginning to set.

"Alright, let me just get some samples from the beach and from the volcano and then we can leave"

Lorelei nodded her head but it was clear she wasn't listening to what Harper was saying. She was too busy admiring the island.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll catch up with you in a bit. I'm gonna go take some pictures."

"Well don't go too far. I don't want you to get eaten by some weird Mako monster or whatever."

Lorelei still wasn't listening, as she was already lifting her camera to take a picture of some flora.

It didn't take long for Harper to collect her samples. She didn't muck around looking at every little flower that she came across. She got what she came for and moved on. Harper was sort of starting to regret bringing along Lorelei. It was if she was under a spell they way she was looking at everything.

"Lorelei, let's go, it's getting dark and my mum will start to worry if I'm not back before at least ten o'clock."

"Hold on, let me just get this one last picture."

Harper stood waiting on the beach as Lorelei snapped her last photo: a picture of the sun setting over Mako Island. Lorelei made her way over to where Harper was standing and held out her camera so that Harper could see the photo.

"What do you think? Gorgeous right?"

"Exquisite. But can we leave now?"

"All right, all right, Ms. Crankypants. Don't get you're knickers in a twist."

Harper stuck out her tongue at Lorelei and Lorelei grinned. Both girls mounted the jet ski and made their way to get off the island.

Except, the jet ski wouldn't start. Lorelei began to panic.

"Oh no. Oh no no no no no. This cannot be happening!" Lorelei felt tears prickle against the back of her eyes and pushed them back. Crying wouldn't help them in this situation. "I told you this would happen!"

"How was I supposed to know that the jet ski would run out of gas or something?"

"Because it's an old jet ski!"

"It is not that old!"

Lorelei took a several deep breaths. The girls sat in silence for a minute.

"Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere. Look, I have my cell. Maybe there's a way we can reach one of our parents."

Lorelei opened her phone, but unfortunately, there was no signal. Lorelei let out some profane words that her mother would most certainly not approve of.

"Look, it's alright, let's just go see if maybe we can get cell service somewhere else on the island."

Lorelei took another deep breath.

"Come on, let's not waste anymore time."

And so, as Lorelei and Harper made their way into the jungle of Mako, a sailboat was making its way to the shore.

* * *

_7:40 PM AEST_

The entire ride to Mako Island was mostly just filled with Shelby talking and Audrey ignoring her while trying to sail. If Shelby knew that Audrey wasn't listening, she didn't seem to be bothered by it much.

Pretty soon, Audrey was able to make out the outline of Mako Island. She'd only been in Australia for a week and yet on the first day, she had already hear about the wondrous Mako Island. The island was a common topic of conversation on the Gold Coast, mostly among tourists, yet people rarely visited it. Most people were afraid to go, assuming there was some sort of monster on the island. And the fact that were literal sharks surrounding the island. Audrey wasn't afraid of the sharks and she knew monsters didn't exist. Suddenly, the sound of a pissed off Shelby woke her out of her thoughts.

"Why is Mako Island deserted? Where are all the people? I swear, if this is all just some sort of prank,"

Shelby started to let out some profane words, describing in shocking detail how much pain she was gonna cause Carter.

"I mean, you did say the party was at 8:00, and its only 7:43. Plus, there is a jet ski down there."

Shelby broke off at Audrey's words and contemplated.

"I mean, yeah, that could be it."

"So, let's all just calm down and go find out for ourselves."

Shelby sat in contemplation again.

"You're right, I should calm down."

Audrey's sailboat made it's way to the shores of Mako Island. By this time, the sun was all the way down and it was very dark out. Audrey pulled out her phone and turned on her flashlight.

"Alright, let's go look for the party."

Audrey started towards the jungle, when Shelby stopped her.

"Wait, you're coming with me?"

"Of course, I'm not leaving you here half-drunk on a mysterious island that may or may not be deserted. I'm staying with you."

Shelby stared at her for a second.

"You don't have to stay, I can take care of myself."

"Well then how do you plan on making it back home? I'm coming with you whether you like it or not."

Audrey started towards the jungle again and a few seconds later, Shelby ran to catch up and walk beside her.

"Thanks, Audrey."

* * *

_7:58 PM AEST_

For a few minutes, the girls walked in complete silence. Then, they heard a voice, clear as day.

"We've been walking for an hour and still no signal!" said the unknown voice.

Audrey and Shelby made eye contact, and followed the voice.

"Relax, we just have to keep searching. Otherwise, we'll probably never get off the isl-AHHHH"

Audrey and Shelby had found the sources of the voices. They were two teenage girls, both who looked shocked to see them.

The four girls sat in an uncomfortable silence for what felt like an hour before one of the girls, the taller one with light brown skin and caramel colored hair, spoke.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

It was Shelby who spoke next.

"Well, we were hoping to be here for a party..." Shelby trailed off, hoping that the girl would confirm that, yes, there was a party.

"Party? What party?" This was the shorter girl who spoke. Her skin was a light olive tone, and she had jet black hair.

"Well, you see strange, small girl," the girl wrinkled her nose at that, "I was told there was a party here, but it seems that it was all just a cruel prank."

"Listen, I don't care about why you're here, all I care about is how you got here."

Audrey furrowed her brow, confused as to why it mattered.

"We got here in my sailboat, but I don't see-" Audrey was interrupted by a sudden cry.

All three girls had turned to see the taller girl fall into a hole. The shorter one raced over to the hole quickly.

"Lorelei! Lorelei, are you okay? Please say you're okay!"

Audrey and Shelby went over to the hole and looked in to see a steep slide and then Lorelei at the bottom of it.

"Can you climb up?" Audrey yelled down.

Silence for several moments. Then she heard a response.

"It's too steep! Harper, I think I may have sprained my wrist or something!"

Harper, the shorter girl, groaned.

"How are we ever going to explain this to her parents?"

Audrey racked her brain trying to figure out ways to get her out. Without thinking, she leaned over the hole a little too much and suddenly, she was going down the slide as well. Audrey landed next to a frightened Lorelei.

"Are you okay?" Lorelei asked. Audrey nodded her head in reply.

"Are you?"

"Besides the fact that I may have hurt my wrist and my camera may be broken," Audrey had suddenly noticed that she had had a camera around her neck the whole time, "I'm great."

Audrey nodded. That sat for a while in awkward silence.

"I'm Audrey, by the way."

"I'm Lorelei. It's nice to meet you, despite the circumstances."

Audrey chuckled a bit.

"You must be from America then."

Audrey whipped her head around.

"How could you tell?" Lorelei looked at her as if she were a bit stupid.

"Your accent?" she said it as if it were a question to be answered.

Audrey blushed, embarrassed by her momentary stupidity. Suddenly, another girl came down the slide. And then not short after, another girl.

Harper looked around at Shelby.

"Why didn't you stay at the top? You could've thrown us a rope or something." Harper looked at Shelby a bit angrily. It was clear the girls hadn't warmed up to each other.

"I was afraid of the monsters." Shelby answered sarcastically. Harper rolled her eyes and turned away.

"Come on, let's find a way out of here."

The four girls found that they could at least crawl through the hole, and so they looked for a way out.

* * *

_8:34 PM AEST_

After crawling for what felt like ages, the girls had found a cave and in the center of it was a clear blue pool of water. The four of them stared at it in awe. It was almost unreal how blue it looked. Suddenly, Shelby jumped into the pool.

"What are you doing?" Audrey shouted.

"I'm going to check to see if maybe there's a way out of here. Look, there's a little path that could lead us back to the beach. Come on, get in."

Audrey was the first to jump in. Shelby smiled at her. Harper hesitated, but then jumped in. Lorelei was the last one.

"But...my camera. I can't leave it, but it'll get ruined if I take it with me."

"Oh for goodness sake, you have like four cameras, Lore! And you're family is like super rich! They can buy you one just like that!"

Lorelei still hesitated to get in.

"But all my photos from today will be lost." she argued weakly.

"Listen Lorelei," started Shelby, "do you want out of here or not?"

Lorelei stood there for a while. Then, she removed her camera from her neck and got into the water.

The four of them stood together in a circle, when suddenly the moon rose straight over the opening of the cave. Moonlight filled the pool and made it seem like the air around them was sparkling. There they stood, staring up at the moon, entranced and in awe. And then, in a flash, the moon was gone and the trance broke.

"Man, I wish I had caught that on camera."

* * *

_9:00 PM AEST_

Shelby had been right about the path leading to the beach and the four girls were extremely relieved.

"Oh thank god, we're free!" cried Lorelei.

After Lorelei tied her jet ski to the back of Audrey's sailboat, the four girls piled into Audrey's sailboat and began to sail off. As they left, they couldn't help but be glad that they were off the island, hopefully never to return.

But little did they know that from that moment on, their lives would forever be tied to Mako Island, and to each other.

* * *

Hey guys! So now that I finally have all my main characters, we can get this show on the road! I am still looking for supporting characters, so please check out my profile for more information regarding that. To make up for the past three chapters being so short, here's an extra long one! I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope I did your characters justice! Leave a review and let me know your thoughts!


	5. Chapter 5

_Friday, 25 August 2019 11:35 PM_

Lorelei definitely needed a break. Ever since she'd come home, her parents had been all over her non-stop. At first, they were just relieved she was okay. Which quickly gave way to fury. She was definitely grounded until further notice.

Thankfully, her parents had gone to bed not long after her sentencing. So, Lorelei decided to go for a swim.

Lorelei's parents were, for a lack of better words, very wealthy. Her father was a foreign ambassador and her mother, a movie star. Her house was a reflection of that wealth. Their house was very large, with many rooms for many guests and an indoor pool. Her house was also set on the beach, giving her access to her very own private spot on the shore.

Lorelei made her way there, quietly as not to alert anyone nearby, or worse, her parents. As soon as she felt the warm, breezy ocean air, her restless body calmed itself. Every muscle in her body released all the tension and she slowly made her way closer to where the waves washed up shore. She stood, far enough away that the water couldn't reach her and she just watched the ocean.

Lorelei took one step further, and she felt the warm water brush her foot.

Ten seconds later, Lorelei was lying on the ground.

With a tail.

* * *

_Saturday, 26 August 2019 7:15 AM _

Shelby, despite waking up with a slight migraine, still got up for her early-morning training. She'd considered taking an off-day to recover from the previous night's events, but ultimately decided not to. Olympic swimmers don't take off days.

So, she ran to the beach, hoping that maybe her headache would go away. (It did not.)

She barely stopped to take off her shorts and tank top before diving into the ocean.

As long as she could remember, Shelby had been swimming. It was the one thing she loved most in the world, and it always made her feel better, no matter what. When she was swimming, all she had to do was focus on breathing and kicking. Breathing and kicking.

Suddenly, Shelby felt something wrong. She couldn't feel her legs and she was swimming way too fast. She stopped and looked down. And in the place where her legs should've been, was an orange, scaly tail.

* * *

_Saturday, 26 August 2019 9:29 AM_

Harper's parents had been gone since yesterday evening, at some charity event for her father's work somewhere in Brisbane. They had spent the night there, leaving Sadie and Tessa, the five year old twins, in the care of the nanny. However, their nanny had been called away early the next morning for a family emergency, leaving Harper in charge of the twins. Unfortunately.

Harper loved Sadie and Tessa, but they could be little devils. Particularly at the moment, when Harper couldn't find them.

"Sadie! Tessa! Come out, come out wherever you are you little rats!" Harper screamed. At that moment, she heard a high pitched tinkling laugh come from the outside.

_Those two better not be where I think they are._

Harper walked out onto the deck where the twins were in the pool, with full swim gear. They had on their bathing suits, their matching pink floats, and their matching sunglasses.

For a moment, Harper was almost impressed. She'd never know how they managed to sneak past her with all of their gear.

"Girls, you know you aren't allowed in the pool without supervision." Harper told them firmly.

But the girls ignored her and continued to play and splash about.

"Hey! Listen to me," Harper got closer to the pool, "you need to get out of there, because I am not staying out here to watch you."

At that, Sadie turned to Harper. She had a frown on her face and her arms were crossed. Well, as much as they could be crossed with giant floats on her arms.

"We want to swim." Sadie said defiantly.

"Yeah!" echoed Tessa, ever the follower.

Harper started to get more annoyed.

"Come on! Get out, before I make you get out!"

"NO! We want to swim!" At that last word, Sadie had splashed her arms, drenching water all over the front of Harper's shirts.

"Ugh! Fine, have it your way," Harper shouted as she turned to walk inside, "But don't expect me to come running if you need something!"

Harper stormed inside, fuming. She almost didn't realize what was happening near her nether regions.

That is, until Harper fell over.

"Ow!" She exclaimed raising up on her elbows. Suddenly, she turned to look at her feet. Except, she didn't have any feet.

She had a tail.

* * *

_Saturday, 26 August 2019, 10:28 AM_

Audrey usually didn't sleep in, but considering her night before, she let herself have just this one morning.

But as soon as she got up, immediately she knew she had to take a shower. The smell of sea water reeked all over her ginger hair and her body.

Despite sleeping in, at least for her standards, she was still awake before everyone else in her family, fortunately. There was only one bathroom, besides the one in her parents room, leaving Audrey and her siblings to fight over the tiny bathroom across the hall.

Audrey got to the bathroom, and turned on the water, before turning on the sink to brush her teeth.

She brought her mouth down to the spout to rinse her mouth of toothpaste when suddenly her legs gave out. Audrey hit her head against the side of the sink and she rubbed her head in anguish.

"What the-" Audrey opened her eyes to see a tail where her legs should've been.

As if on cue, Audrey's phone began to ring. Shelby was calling.

"Hello?"

_"Audrey? We need to talk. Meet me at the Sunny Outlook Cyber Cafe at 11:30."_

* * *

Hey guys! I know it's been a while, but this past week has been insane! I had a huge essay due for one of my classes and I had a college audition on Saturday, for which I had been preparing for all week. On top of all that, I've been super sick, so anytime I tried to write, I just couldn't think or focus. Thankfully, I'm better now, so I decided to put together this chapter really quickly for you guys, so sorry for any spelling or grammar errors, I was typing really fast! That said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was a necessary chapter, but also kind of a filler chapter, the next chapter should start picking back up.

Don't forget that** I am still accepting supporting characters! **Please send them in! I especially want antagonists and love interests, so please, even if you never submitted a main character, please submit a supporting character! All info is still on my profile, so check it out if you're even remotely interested.

(Oh, and here's a little shout-out: Elle S Goudie, the creator of Shelby, has a Selection SYOC, To Build a Throne, that you guys should really check out. It's got a really cool premise and she's a really great writer too. She's still accepting characters, so go submit one while you can!)


	6. Chapter 6

_Saturday, 26 Augu_s_t 2019, 11:34 AM_

Though it took a while, Audrey found Shelby sitting at a table in the back corner of Sunny Outlook Cyber Cafe. She went almost unnoticeable, even Audrey wouldn't have seen her, had she not been specifically looking for her. Her leg bounced up and down nervously.

Audrey approached the table and Shelby looked up from where she was staring at her cup of what looked like coffee.

"Oh good, you're here. Now we just have to wait for the other two."

Audrey sat down slowly into the seat across from Shelby.

"The other two?"

As if on cue, Lorelei and Harper walked in. Shelby waved to them, and they quickly made their way to the booth. As soon as they sat down, Shelby immediately began to speak.

"The reason I've called you all here today is because of what happened last night. At Mako. More specifically, what happened after it."

Lorelei and Harper exchanged glances and shifted in their seats nervously.

"Yeah, we've both had some interesting...experiences since last night as well." Lorelei said anxiously. "I'm assuming everyone else at this table has been through something similar?"

Shelby and Audrey nodded their heads.

"What I don't understand is why this is happening. Or how." Shelby said. She'd been in a crabby mood ever since the discovery of her tail.

"Isn't it obvious? It was obviously that cave pool thing, the one where the air sparkled and stuff. I thought it was just the moonlight, but maybe it was more than that." Lorelei said. While Shelby may have been frustrated by the tails, but Lorelei had accepted pretty much right away.

"But it makes no sense, pools of water don't just turn girls into mermaids!" Shelby said sharply. The girls went quiet.

"No. No. I refuse to believe that we've been magically turned into mythical creatures _that don't exist!_" Harper said, speaking for the first time since arriving.

"Well you better start believing, because this is our reality now." Shelby shot back.

The two girls began to bicker back and forth as Lorelei and Audrey looked on. Finally, Audrey couldn't take it anymore.

"Enough!" Shelby and Harper stopped mid-sentence, and turned to look at Audrey. "Screaming at each other about this is pointless. You can't argue with facts! And the fact of the matter is, ever since last night, we've all grown tails at some point."

"It just doesn't make any sense to me, things like this only happen in movies." Harper said, as if she were about to start arguing again.

"But it is happening to us." Lorelei said comfortingly. Having known Harper for a long time, she knew sometimes the best ways to calm her down was to just be gentle with her.

"Well, I have another question. Just to be sure, everyone did come into contact with water right before growing a tail, right?" Shelby asked.

Everyone nodded their heads and began to trade their stories about what happened.

"So, whenever we touch water, we turn into mermaids?" Lorelei asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yep. I guess this means no more showers for me." Audrey said, thinking back to how she had almost taken one this morning. She winced, thinking how much more poorly this morning would've happened had she gotten in the shower first.

"Ugh, how are we even supposed to drink water anymore without it touching our mouth? Or wash our hands after using the toilet? This is incredibly inconvenient." Harper complained.

Shelby, sitting in stony silence, finally decided to speak up.

"Try having your entire dream ripped away from you! Because of this, I can't swim competitively anymore!" Shelby hissed angrily. "You know, one day, I hoped to make it to the Olympics. I may not be good at a lot of things, but swimming was the one thing I could say I was brilliant at! And now, I have to quit doing one of the things I love most in the world. This is more than just inconvenient for me. It's practically life-ruining!"

Shelby stood up from the table, and stormed out. Audrey looked out the window and saw her go sit outside on the curb. She had her knees pulled up to her chest with her arms around her knees.

"I'm going to go make sure she's okay." Audrey started to get up, but was stopped by the sound of Harper's voice.

"Audrey, do you think she's angry at me?" Harper looked the most concerned Audrey had ever seen from her. "I didn't mean to upset her, I just..."

She trailed off, not sure of what to say.

"She's not angry at you, she's just angry at the situation. It's not your fault, you didn't know." Audrey got up and walked out of the cafe.

Shelby was still sitting on the curb when Audrey sat down next to her, legs stretched out.

"You okay? You kind of blew up on Harper." Shelby let out a sigh and faced Audrey.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's not Harper's fault. I'm just frustrated with this entire situation. Not exactly _ideal_, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it, it's gonna be weird for all of us, but there's not much we can do to change it. So we just have to.. embrace it, I guess."

Shelby gave Audrey a tight smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Audrey smiled back. Both girls moved to stand up from the curb.

"You going back inside?" Audrey questioned.

"Nah, I think I might go to the beach for a swim." Shelby answered with a slight smile.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, I'm sure I'll see you at school." Shelby turned and began walking.

Audrey looked through the window of the cafe and saw Harper and Lorelei, laughing together. For a second, she hesitated to go back in, but then she shook off the doubt and walked up to the table.

"Hey, Shelby's going for a swim at the beach, want to join her?" Audrey asked. Harper and Lorelei looked at each other before turning back to Audrey with grins on their faces.

"We'd love to." exclaimed Lorelei. Audrey grinned back and the three girls ran out the cafe as fast as they could.

* * *

Hi guys! Sorry for being MIA for a while, I promise I didn't give up on this story. I hope you guys like this chapter, I had fun writing it. For the creators of the main characters, if you guys have any questions or concerns about the characterization of your OCs, don't be afraid to tell me. Here's a few things regarding this story:

1) **I'm still looking for supporting characters**, I'd really like to get all those slots filled up soon!

2) I made a tumblr for this story! There is a link on my profile, so go check it out.

3)A little promo: my good friend Diosa de Las Estrellas (creator of Harper), has an PJO SYOC. I don't know if she's still open, but still, please go check out her story, it's wonderful! Also, Elle S Goudie (creator of Shelby) has a Selection SYOC that I think is still open, so you should definitely go check out that one as well, it's amazing!

Also, I just want to say thank you to anyone whose been following this story, it really means a lot because I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in my story, but every time I see a review, it warms my heart, so yeah, just wanted to say thanks!


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